Saturday, 28 September 2013

On 'captivity'

A dolphin born among humans, living a meaningful life, touching and playing with humans every day in a marine animal rehabilitation facility

Recently, several persons in online postings about human-dolphin
interactions described me as "pro-captivity".

This is not correct.

If you want a label for me, say I am: 'pro-understanding the challenging
situation we have with dolphins who live among humans'.

My work is dedicated to understanding this situation and to bettering the
conditions under which they live. I oppose capturing dolphins for any reason other than to help them survive.

I seek the best possible care for dolphins wherever they may be. That includes those living among humans.

To respond to the inaccuracy, I will address the topic in some detail. It is a complex topic, and deserves no less.

To begin, a definition of ‘captivity’ will help clarify the discussion.

Dictionaries make a distinction between humans
and animals, in regard to 'captivity', as if there is a difference. I don't think there is: humans
are animals too.

Dictionaries state that a human who has been captured is a captive, or ‘in
captivity’. They also say that any non-human animal who is confined is a captive, or ‘in
captivity’.

Using one word to refer to two different conditions is one way the concept of 'captivity' has become a confused issue.

At what point in a relationship between a human and another animal is there
'captivity'? Are our cats captives? When is an animal unequivocally a 'captive'?

I find the word to be vague, ill-defined, and less than helpful in
understanding the complexities of our relations with other animals. I don't
accept ‘captivity’ as being an appropriate description for all circumstances in
which a non-human animal is in a constructed environment...in fact I find it
nearly useless.

Nevertheless, I have dedicated much of my life to understanding 'captivity'
in all its complexities.

It is not a simple, single condition.

Horses in paddocks are confined so they cannot wander. Dogs on leashes are
'confined' to movements dictated by the person on the other end of the leash.
Are these 'in captivity'?

I think that they are at liberty to express innate
capacities, with various restrictions on their movements, created by caring
humans who seek their safety and wellbeing and that of others.

An elderly visitor to the dolphins, making contact, sharing a moment

Now to the topic of dolphins.

The ‘captivity’ of dolphins is a reality.

What I mean by saying that 'captivity is a reality' is this: the enclosure and confinement of dolphins exists and
must be dealt with.

It is not going away in the foreseeable future.

Dolphins have crossed the boundary lines into human-made spaces, and will
remain within them.

There is no 'going back'.

Approximately 80% of the dolphins living in dolphinariums in the developed world were either born there, or have been living among humans for over 20 years, and not 'releaseable'.

Whether we describe this as being the result of mistakes in the past, the product of legitimate curiosities and desire for scientific understandings, an outcome of economic opportunism for profit, or a part of a larger
scenario in a spiritual context beyond our understanding, is open for interpretation.

Just as other species have joined humans in a relationship of
companion-hood, so dolphins have joined us in our constructed world. They live among us.

I accept the situation as it is. This does not mean I like all aspects of
it, or am 'pro-captivity'.

I accept it but do not condone it in all circumstances.

I work hard at understanding it, having done so for over 30 years.

I also work to make the confinement of
non-human animals of all kinds to be part of the humane responses humans enact toward the
living world, and not an addition to the suffering experienced by other
animals. Rescues, best-practice care, release when possible, long-term committments to care, companionship, and compassion for all animals...everywhere. That is my position.

A brief synopsis of the various ethical positions regarding human/non-human
relations may help to make more clear my understandings and position:

The position of 'Animal Liberation' is an extremist position, one that
ignores many things. It justifies extreme actions, including the killing of
dolphins "who would be better off dead than living in a pool", to
quote an Animal Liberation dolphin murderer from here in Australia.

The "Empty Cages" promoted by Dr Tom Regan, Dr Thomas White, Dr Lori Marino, and many others are fantasies that are not based on
animal welfare, but an abstract notion of 'The Natural World', a world in which
humans and other animals live separate lives, apart from each other, leaving each
other 'alone'.

The position of 'Animal Rights' has its own problems, inherent in its
constructions. Rights and responsibilities are part of the same idea in the
legal sense. Having one requires the other. Responsibilities cannot be required of a non-human...an
impossible notion, to require specific actions of non-humans.

The other way of
understanding 'rights' is to conceive of them as 'natural rights', and not
legal rights. However, 'natural rights' are impossible to clearly define in a world in
which all living things are part of a biosystem in which each depends on
consuming others.

This leaves 'Animal Welfare' as the last of the three major pillars of human ethical
theories about how to be in right relations with other animals. Some would
argue that no amount of improvement of conditions for animals is enough, that
all non-humans should be out from under all human care. This anti-welfare
position denies human compassion, the innate response we have toward suffering.
Walk on by when we come across a dolphin struggling in the surf? No, never.

Animal Welfare pays close attention to the needs of individuals. Animal Rights
and Animal Liberation pay attention to species, not individuals as unique sites
of complex histories and adaptations.

Consider this: A dolphin born in a constructed environment is not a
'captive', in my view. It was not captured. It literally and actually has
nowhere else to go.

A dolphin rescued and rehabilitated who cannot be expected to survive in
the Ocean, and who is given a life-long opportunity to live under human care,
is not a ‘captive’. It also has nowhere else to go.

There is one more 'ethical pillar', one that is less acknowledged, but important: the Ethic of Care. Developed as part of Feminism, it recognises that caring for the wellbeing of another is not part of the 'calculus of suffering' that Animal Liberationist and Animal Rights campaigners use to determine ethical behaviour. The Ethic of Care is direct in its individualized responses to the needs of others, and does not discriminate against 'otherness' in any form...including non-human animals.

A young dolphin, born among humans, full of curiosity, delight, and willingness to accept humans into her space, just as humans have accepted her into theirs. She will have a lifetime of excellent care, no matter how long that may be.

My position is this: We must always consider the actual individual as we
work toward best possible outcomes. This is within the Animal Welfare concept.
I add the concept of Animal Rights to this, partially, in the sense that I
accept that we cannot know with certainty the 'natural rights' of other
animals, but humans can create limits for human actions that enable other
animals to thrive and not suffer under human care, as a natural right. And to this, I add the Ethic of Care, one that supports caring for any creature, just as religious traditions urge, as acts of compassion.

There are, of course, many details in this hybrid construction of my ethical stance that require more space
and time to discuss than can be undertaken here.

Is this "pro-captivity"?

No, it is not.

It accepts the reality of what already is, without condoning it, and aims
to continually improve how we treat dolphins who live among us. It accepts that
some circumstances can bring dolphins across the species boundary, into human
care, and that this is the most important part of the issue: how can humans
improve their care of other animals, some of whom have joined humans in
constructed environments?

Does this meet the demands of some activists who state that “captivity is
captivity and it must be abolished”? No, it does not. Rather, my position
suggests that we need to make clear what we oppose, what we accept, and what we
can, in unity, support.

What you are doing is unethical, and you know it. Extremists? Hardly. Breeding these sacred creatures in captivity to further your own personal agenda and trying to promote yourself as some kind of "dolphin savior" is disgusting. Your actions have been exposed publicly, and I know more than one comment has been made, yet only one is being shown here...not too surprisingly, it only addresses the "extremists". Where are all the other comments? Are you afraid to show both sides of this debate? I think you are...because you know you can't justify what you're doing to those of us who understand how detrimental it is for dolphins to be living in an unnatural habitat, to never know freedom, to have chemicals and the frequencies of pumps and motors 24/7 instead of the life they deserve as FREE BEINGS. You say they are happy because this is all they know...that they are happy to sacrifice themselves for humanity...and I ask you, sir, what dark heart allows a man to take such joys and liberties away from creatures who love us that deeply? Only an opportunist or a fool. I am proud to be an extremist if that's what I am for believing what you do is unethical and for exercising my freedom of speech on this matter. I pray you will wake up and stop this madness before it goes any further.

In response to the comment from Anonymous, above, I feel several issues should be addressed.I wonder what Anonymous has read? What does Anonymous think I do? In what way is studying the interactions between humans and dolphins, and working in many ways to improve this relationship and the conditions of life for dolphins in all environments, “unethical”?

I don’t ‘breed dolphins’. I do recognise that dolphins with nowhere else to go need social experiences with other dolphins that are not limited to swimming with them, having been fed contraceptives to prevent them from bearing offspring. I recognise that reproduction is not only a natural occurrence between them, but is a good thing for them to do living in limited circumstances. It stimulates them, keeps them healthy, and provides a more enriched life experience. The long-term consequences of this is that there will be an ever-increasing number of dolphins living among humans, until the population levels off. This is not ‘breeding’, it is closer to a natural process, something I would think that those who want the best for dolphins would support.

Instead, those who take the position found in this post insist that all dolphins ‘should die out’ by being prevented from reproducing: fed contraceptives. I oppose this on several grounds, not least that it is a needless limitation placed on the lives of dolphins who already live under circumstances in which there are limits on natural behaviours.

This comment is the fourth comment to be made on this post. The first three comments were identical, from an anonymous writer. I chose to publish only one copy of the same message.

I am not interested in a “debate” with anonymous persons who do not care to read what I write.

The view of dolphins as “FREE BEINGS” is true in some ways, just as humans are free beings. This does not mean, however, that humans are free of the circumstances in which they live. Are you free of all limitations? Are you free of restraints on your behaviours, the circumstances that have been part of who you are and how you live? A dolphin born among humans is also a ‘free being’. It lives where it lives, and it is humans who have the wonderful opportunity to learn how to be good partners in these experiences, to serve their needs.

I have never taken any freedom from any dolphin, nor have I ever limited its capacity to express itself, or to have as much liberty as its circumstances afford it.

Extremism does not acknowledge that life requires of us that we consider all perspectives, and instead insists upon a single viewpoint, a single way of responding. I personally know dolphins who would be dead if not saved and cared for by humans, who have inspired, delighted, and touched hundreds of thousands of humans, and who are healthy and expressing themselves after living among humans for over 40 years. To suggest that this dolphin would be better off dead, or better off in a place where only a select few humans would feed it, leaving it without any other human contact, is, to me, an idea that is extreme, and does not consider the actual dolphin’s needs and ongoing friendships with humans.

I understand the deep desire to see dolphins living freely in the oceans and the strangeness of dolphins living in built environments. While I understand this, I also understand that this is an ideal, a dream of a world that is not this world, a world where dolphins with nowhere else to go live among us.

I urge people who care about dolphins to think also of those dolphins living among humans, who are also amazing, beautiful, graceful dolphins. It baffles me that someone who says they love dolphins feels the need to withhold their love from those whose fate has brought them close, to be inside the circle of human care.

The Embassy

We are dedicated to enabling improved contact between humans and cetaceans. While we recognise the challenges this embodies, we know that there is extraordinary value for both humans and cetaceans in sharing time together.
With nearly 30 years of interaction experience, we have come to know that dolphins and whales are not Others, but are significant Others, beings with whom we have an undeniable shared destiny. We seek to further this connection, and do as our friend Dr. John Lilly, MD, asked us to do, to serve as Ambassadors.
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